Up On Mount Silver
by Lover of Video Games
Summary: Red talks a bit about why he came up here, and why he doesn't intend to leave. I'm a bit dissatisfied with it, but I think you guys will like it anyway. :D


**AN: Hey, guys, Lover of Video Games here. I'm going to be trying something new with this story, and I really hope you like it. I've been playing FireRed recently, so I figured screw it.**

**So, anyone who's played Gold, Silver, Crystal (I think), HeartGold or SoulSilver knows that you get to defeat, or at least battle, Red from Red, Green, Blue, and the Gen. 3 reboots at the top of Mount Silver after you become the Champion. He's just… sitting there, at the peak, apparently because it's an awesome place to train Pokémon. But one question is not answered: Why in the hell is he just sitting there and not chilling in the Pokémon League? This is a look into his mind to reminisce and find out the reasons he's there. It's a bit more serious than my other fics, as you diligent fans of Peace is a Lie will see, but I tried my best.**

**Quick note: This Red's backstory is based off of MY Red. MINE. That's why his first Pokémon was Squirtle, not Pikachu, and why his team isn't the in-game one (the manga one as well?). Also, if you guys like it enough, I may one day make a story about Red's adventures through Kanto or whatever.**

**I think I'm done talking now. Enjoy! R&R, please!**

What's better? The journey or the destination?

Don't answer that. It's the journey. In every way imaginable, the journey is better. At least, that's how it seems to me. Perhaps other people, with different destinations in mind, would think differently, but when you're Red, Kanto League champion and arguably the world's greatest trainer, the fame received from that title gets very old, very fast.

I still remember the day I got Squirtle. That day marked the start of my Pokémon adventure, the most enjoyable time of my life. That adorable little turtle Pokémon was my best friend… is my best friend, and was the first of dozens of lifelong companions, six of which remain with me today, at the top of this frozen hell of a mountain. Blastoise, Pigeot, Machamp, Kadabra, Dragonite, and Golem. My closest companions, and the only beings I interact with anymore, save for the occasional trainer, off searching for glory by beating "the legendary Red". For every gym that I beat, I felt more and more alive, closer to my Pokémon and to my ultimate goal. It also helped that I singlehandedly took down the entire Team Rocket terrorist organization without getting a single Pokémon knocked out.

The final frontier, the Pokémon League, was my greatest challenge. Lorelei, Bruno, Agatha, and Lance are their names, specializing in Ice, Fighting, Ghost, and Dragon-types, respectively. I expected so much, perhaps too much. Remember how I said it was my greatest challenge? That doesn't mean I didn't rip them apart. Two of my Pokémon were knocked out. And the Champion… my rival never could put up much of a fight. Gyarados fell as easily as Venusaur or any of the others. Just like that, I was the Champion.

Oh, it was great at first. I got to go with Professor Oak and get me and my team into the Hall of Fame, which felt amazing, sure, but then the media began to flock in. Between them and constant battling, I had almost no time to myself. It was get interviewed, then engage in an "epic, earth-shattering battle", then get interviewed on said "epic, earth-shattering battle". This went on for _three years_. My Pokémon were overworked and, in my personal opinion, underappreciated. The only thing I did was give hand signals and occasionally shout the commands when I hadn't worked one out or I got excited because I thought the opponent might actually have some chance of winning. It was my Pokémon who mustered the strength, battle after battle, day after day, to keep doing those attacks, to keep going, even with all the strain. They got _one _exclusive report in the news. _One._

I think that, coupled with three years of the same thing, drove me to finally leave the Indigo Plateau and go to Mount Silver. At first, I regretted my decision. But then, I grew accustomed to the cold, found a nice cave, and just enjoyed the silence. No loving fans, no persistent media, no gigantic lines of trainers just waiting to get pounded. It was so peaceful, and I got to stay there most of the time, only coming down to get supplies.

Well, that part about trainers isn't completely true. Every once in a while a trainer came up there after hearing the stories and tried to take me down. It was the same as the League, except there weren't as many of them, and it wasn't always snowing there. Either way, they were annihilated.

Then, after three years of training and living in relative peace up on that mountain, came Gold. That kid, though several years younger than me and way too high and mighty, just because he had double the badges that I did and had beaten Lance, was the only person I consider to have ever been a challenge. There were a few points where I actually thought he might win, that I'd be forced to go back down to Kanto and heal my Pokémon. But let me tell you something: Lance was a pushover, as was everyone else I'd ever battled. In the end, the kid never stood a chance.

But he did something that I never thought I'd see after someone lost to me: he took it like a pro, just smiling sadly as his last Pokémon, a Typhlosion, went down for the count. Then he did something even crazier: he swore he'd be back. The kid didn't seem fazed that he'd only taken out three of my Pokémon; in fact, he seemed more determined. He swore that he'd come back one day, and that he _would _defeat me. I still doubt it, but if he was serious, then I look forward to the day we meet again.

Until then, though, it's just me and my team, all alone on this mountain. Just the way I like it.


End file.
